Races of the Kiasse

At first Voula thought he was dead, but as she worked, she felt as if
she could sense his pulse, his heartbeat, where the injuries were worst. Around
her battle raged, but she knew her guards would die before they'd allow a single
shot past their shields. At last, as she pushed air into Damos, his body spasmed
with a thick, wet cough. She kept going, and soon realized that he was breathing
on his own again. Blood may have spattered and covered the inside of his battlesuit, but
most of it was inside him, and likely he'd just been stunned. His hazel eyes opened
and found her. Tears bit at her own eyes as she smiled down at him, but training made
her voice harsh even if it broke while speaking that ritual phrase that'd defined
her people since the day they'd been stranded in betrayal: "Are you fit for service?"

These emotional people live on the closest planet to the sun. Known
for their strength, both of character and of body, as well as for being
chronically direct, they form the most formidable part of the Kiassan
Army, the Flameholdan Guard.

Their planet is almost comically hostile to life, but they have
survived on it. The sheer brutality of their living conditions -- by
turns sizzling hot and freezing cold -- has bred in them hardiness and
a certain lack of patience for the weak. Though one could not speak for
all of these individualistic people, the word "harsh" comes to mind
often when one thinks of them. That said, they are not unkind or
vicious, merely self-sufficient and holding an expectation that others
be the same. They are the polar opposite of that class of person known
as a "dramawhore."

In appearance, Flameholdans tend to be shorter than
Sciallans, but
stockier and more muscular. They are bronze-skinned, rarely darker
than that but almost never pale, even the Winter-born ones.
Their hair tends toward dark brown or black; auburn hair is particularly
prized. Flameholdans tend to be
nearly obssessed with physical fitness, so almost all of them are in
peak condition for their frame type. Every Flameholdan citizen, even
the very aged, is expected to exercise regularly.

Flameholdans are nearly all
warriors. Even their healers and
craftsmen are expected to be competent in a fight; this expertise is
often called upon at the most unexpected times. Also, they are all
expected to have weapons on hand at all times on their home planet, so
have frequent problems adjusting to Scialla, whose
Eastern Cities
almost all have prohibitions against anybody but
Swordsmen wearing arms in the
city limits.

Language: Hellenikan
The main language of Flamehold is Hellenikan, spoken by most
if not all the clans and tribes of that planet. There are a
number of other dialects and accents can vary, of course, given
the area, but overall it's pretty stable. Hellenikan is marked
by a very sharp, enunciated sound, with no weak consonants
(for example, "c" is always pronounced "k", "g" is always
said "guh" and not "juh", and there are few words involving
the letter "j" which is pronounced either as "h" or as "juh").

Though the language sounds harsh and even brutal to
outsiders, it's considered to be enormously poetic by
Flameholdans themselves. Lykitis
herself, the Solius of
the clans, is quoted as saying, "Hellenikan is like a spear
in flight: swift, shining, and terrible as an army with banners
advancing upon the dark earth." Flameholdans take enormous
pride in their language, and do not speak it with outcasts
or non-Flameholdans, nor teach it without a clan-chief's
approval.

There is no real word order in Hellenikan, so the most
important words go first in a sentence. The idea of
word order being important is the hardest thing for Hellenikan
speakers to understand about Eshtenel and other languages.
There are nine tenses and twelve declensions, along with
feminine, masculine, and neuter noun forms, so it is not
in any way an easy language to learn. Thankfully, it uses
the same script Eshtenel uses.
Also, because all syllables are pronounced, and because the words
in Hellenikan are spelled precisely how they're spoken, there
are few issues with misspellings with this language!

Tattoos:
One could not mention Flameholdans without mentioning their penchant
for body art. It is customary among them to tattoo themselves after
major occasions. Battles count as major occasions, so for most
Flameholdan warriors, their bodies are a record of just about every
battle they've ever been in. Their first tattoo is always a stylized
symbol along the right cheek -- each clan has its own pattern. The
tattoos are always black, with most being emblems or symbols
representing the occasion rather than words or dates. Very old people
in Flameholdan cultures often make themselves useful as memory men and
storytellers, living repositories of just what this or that symbol
means, able to retell the occasion that led to the tattoo. It should be
mentioned that the symbol for the occasion is almost always decided
upon by the clan leader and it is stable across Flameholdans, in terms
of both shape and placement (all Flameholdans bearing that symbol will
try very hard to get it basically in the same place).

Clan means absolutely everything to the average Flameholdan. A clan
comprises one's immediate family as well as extended family, though
some clans will take in otherwise clanless outsiders. To be without a
clan is to be without your anchor, sails, and rudder. To be thrown out
of one's clan is the worst penalty imaginable; to leave one's clan,
nearly unthinkable. Clan leaders have complete control over their
members (though clan leaders can be challenged and ousted; once ousted,
a clan leader is expected to give the new leader his complete
allegiance, though in practice, would probably just leave the clan in
shame).

Flameholdans are a culture bent on survival. Therefore, they
don't tend to wear fancy clothing. They tend to concentrate on
leather, with lace-up vests, or leather shirts during cold weather,
leather pants, and mantles rather than cloaks, since mantles can be
wrapped around oneself more easily. Their boots tend to tie on rather
than lace up or slide on. They do like metal armbands and bracers,
and wear torc-like neck jewelry. About the dressiest they tend to get
is colored single stripes along the outside
seam of their pants, or edging on their vests or shirts.

Flameholdan Women:
Women in Flameholdan society have an unusual position. The entire
thrust of the entire civilization is to survive until the next
generation is safe. Children, therefore, are not only a luxury but
an utter necessity. Though infant mortality is excellent and deaths
from childbirth very rare, Flameholdan birthrates tend to be right
around 2.1 (in other words, barely replacement rate for a society).
Flameholdan women can't be warriors until they have replaced
themselves through birthing another pure-blooded Flameholdan.
Men, too, must replace themselves, but since not all of them
get involved with female warriors, this isn't as big an issue.
For example, Lykitis, the
Solius of Flamehold, was not
allowed to raise a spear till she'd borne a daughter. Her
partner, Bron Stormguard, had
already replaced himself. The negotiations involved in which
child replaces which parent can be detailed. While in duty,
of course, no Flameholdan woman would allow herself to conceive,
but fertility is greatly prized; when she was rotated to inactive
status, she would happily allow such a thing to happen. Even when
pregnant, Flameholdan women prize self-sufficiency and the
outward show of strength--no wilting flowers, these!

Needless to say, children are prized among Flameholdans. No
one would dream of harming one. Even when one clan is completely
subsumed by another, even if various adults might fight to the
death to avoid conquest, even children who raise arms won't be
harmed unless by accident. Replacement is the primary focus
of every Flameholdan, and each life is very precious.

Half-Flameholdans usually identify themselves as
Sciallans. They may
enjoy greater-than-average strength, but not always. Flameholdans also
possess a unique power similar to shamanism called the
Bloodgift, but few outside the
culture understand it, much less can harness it. A halfbreed would
almost never have this ability.

Flameholdans enjoy a particular enmity with Bilashans. While they
will almost always be able to refrain from breaking laws to deal with a
Bilashan (if they consider anything more important than hurting
Bilashans, it's the law). The reasons for this enmity are not well
understood by outsiders. They also really don't like Lirwhinites,
considering them effeminate, debauched, and overly politicized (there
is some truth to their prejudice, it must be admitted).

Their political system is clan-based. Clan leaders elect one of
their number to become their War-Chief, who speaks for them in matters
that touch upon them all. The current War-Chief is Lykitis yar'Solius,
a particularly fierce woman whose daughter, Andromeda, was the Eclipsal
Dancer of the Great Festival. Lykitis' brother, Rowan, is the consort
of the Empress, Kira Stardancer. Lykitis has a small council of aged
ex-warriors who all profess strong Bloodgift and whose judgment and
discretion she trusts completely. She does not technically have to obey
them, but almost always does; when she must differ, it is usually in
degree, not substance.

The religion of the Flameholdans tends toward the shamanistic and
nature-based. They venerate their ancestors and look to the past to
learn how to deal with current and future threats and issues. They
have no heaven or hell; when they die, they will be judged by their
ancestors, and if found wanting, will be destroyed. If found worthy,
they will take their place with the other ancestors and help guide
their descendants through the years. Their wisdom will help their
children and their children's children: what greater aspiration could
there possibly be?

That said, there are a few Flameholdans who've converted to the
Church of Haran; these are seen as a rather
cowardly, bloodless lot by their clans, and usually such Flameholdans
are outcasts. Such a Flameholdan would be seen as soft, perhaps as
having "gone native" with too much time spent on Scialla, with its
easy living.

Are You Fit For Service?
This is probably the most famous phrase among the Flameholdan
people. It has a variety of meanings and subtexts, and when used
in different social situations it can mean different things, but
the usual meaning is "Can you get up and move on with the rest
of us?" Another way of putting it would be this: "Are you going
to be able to go on without being a burden to us?" A Flameholdan
wouldn't say this to a non-Flameholdan (because non-Flameholdans
are, by nature, burdensome to everyone around themselves), and
among themselves it's a way of acknowledging a bad situation and
affirming their self-reliance and their utmost care that the
unit as a whole will be all right even though they may be
suffering on an individual basis.

When you, as a Flameholdan, are asked this question, you are
expected to answer it honestly. If you are injured, it means you
will accurate gauge your injury level. If the injury can be patched
and you can fight without any kind of special consideration, then
you will answer it "Yes, I am fit for service." If you need special
help, like protection, answer so: "I am fit for service with
considerations." Emotions like fear and pain have no place in a
Flameholdan's life when that question gets asked; only the physical
matters, because the emotional is always manageable.

A famous story told about this question regards a battle on
Flamehold a couple of hundred years ago. The famous warrior-king
Sauros sha'Sunrider led an
attack against the now-defunct Clan Steelscream
for Steelscream's kidnapping of several of Sunrider's Warriors for
interrogation and torture. While invading Steelscream's tower,
Sauros found the decapitated and outraged body of his own lover.
Though at first he knelt beside her corpse, his
aparkos asked him, "Are you fit
for service?" -- and Sauros stood, squared his shoulders, and replied,
"I am fit for service." He shed not a tear, and later attributed the
ritual of the question to his ability to hold off on his grief until
after the fight. That said, his brutal execution of the enemy clan chieftain
became legendary among Clan Sunrider Warriors.

Military Ranks Among the Flameholdans:
* Solius: leader of all the clans on Flamehold. Currently the Solius is
Lykitis Stormguard.
* Dunastis: the leader of a particular clan. The title is less military
than social; a dunastis can be much older and is not generally known for his
military might.
* Agema: the general of a clan's military forces. In a small clan, the agema
is the clan-chief. In a much larger clan, the agema functions under the
dunastis. There is only one in a clan.
* Hetaris: a military commander under the agema, if one exists. Plural,
hetarae. The title means, roughly, "captain."
* Aparkos: a lieutenant. Plural, aparka. There may be several of these
under the hetaris.
* Warriors: the rank and file soldiers.

The favored weapons of a Flameholdan caught outside the Perimeter:
halberds, maces (pointy evil spikey ones, preferably), brutal swords,
and that kind of thing. They don't like delicate weapons or anything
that forces the combat too close. Range weapons like bows are for hunters,
not warriors, and used only if the battle calls for it.

Technology Levels:
Obviously, Flameholdans make extensive use of technology. Their
medical care is second to none thanks to a variety of implants, devices,
diagnostic equipment, and assisted-function machines. Their mortality rate
through childbirth is the lowest in the Empire. Their skill in tending
injury is exquisite. Their weapons tech is also tremendous, especially
their reliance upon battlesuits.
That said, they tend not to worry about technology except in those
circumstances. They don't use computers or electricity on
a personal level and regard over-reliance on technology and power as a
personal and societal shortcoming.

Some technology you'll hear noised about that came from Flamehold:

* Battlesuits: mechanized exoskeletons passed down from Warrior to
Warrior over generations. The suits are blazoned with their clan symbol
and usually with markings of the battles the suit has seen. A lone
Warrior in a battlesuit could easily defeat half an army armed with
conventional weapons. See here
for more information about them. They do not work outside the
Perimeter so would not be seen
anywhere outside it. They are, obviously, hugely heavy so can't even
really be transported.
* Flameblades: swordlike weapons that are passed down just as
battlesuits are. They are designed with either shielding or attack
functionality, though of course all flameblades are decently good at
attack. A shielding flameblade projects a human-sized forcefield that
helps prevent incoming attacks. An attack flameblade can't shield, but
does shoot powerful burstfire beams that can all but vaporize opponents.
They work off of power cells, so obviously don't really work outside
the Perimeter, so the chances of
even seeing one outside Priascialla are
vanishingly rare. Only a few flameblades handle both offense and defense;
Solius Lykitis and her brother, the
Emperor-Consort Rowan Stormguard, are
known to have two of the only ones.
* Stimcell: a particular kind of syringe containing an adrenaline-based
drug that Warriors sometimes carry. When injected, it allows a grievously
injured Warrior to survive long enough to get to aid. The syringe is
not electronic, but its mechanism is not used much outside of Flamehold
and Without the Perimeter. Though
most medics and doctors on Scialla know vaguely that stimcells exist,
they don't generally use them.
* Bactanks: a cylindrical, human-sized tank in which a seriously
injured or compromised person can float in an anti-bacterial liquid
agent while he heals. The tank comes with a mask that covers the eyes,
nose and mouth so that the healing subject can breathe and receive
nutrients. The tanks are not used outside Flamehold and a few very
high-end Priasciallan hospitals. Obviously, due to their electronics
and power requirements, they are not seen outside the Perimeter.

Many of these devices use crystal-like
powerstones as a sort of "battery."
Powerstones do not last outside Scialla's Perimeter either.

Roleplaying Help:
Flameholdans have a lot of trouble with independent thinking in
some situations; their chief or commander does that for them. When
injured, they're expected to accurately assess their condition and
report whether they're "fit for service," as the famous phrase goes,
or if they're too injured to go on. They do not go on if their injuries
will prove a liability to the others. Above all else, they do not EVER
let the clan down. If given an order, they follow it even if it
doesn't make a ton of sense--the chief needs to know in his bones
that he can trust them to do what he said, so he can concentrate his
attention where it needs to be, not on whether or not his men are
obeying!

In relationships they tend to value autonomy and self-reliance;
not for them, the drama of the "fainting flower." They have little
to no patience for the juvenile dramas of most Sciallan women, nor the
theatrics and politics of Lirwhinite women. Flameholdan women,
just like the men, are strong, un-dramatic, reliable, self-reliant, and
faithful to an extreme degree. Marriage is rare, but divorce is more
rare; when a relationship is over, Flameholdans are good about ending
it mercifully rather than cheating or acting out.

They can, as a race, be stubborn when they decide what the best and
most honorable course of action would be. They abhor secrecy and
plotting; they despise cowards and any soldier who disobeys orders.
When a Flameholdan calls someone a friend, he means it in a sense no
other race does; when a Flameholdan decides to grant someone his
allegiance, that someone had better realize the amazing gift he just
got given. They don't lightly grant their hearts or their swordarms,
but once they do, nothing but death will separate them from their
oaths.

Concepts for players in Valrona:
Flameholdans are actually not too uncommon in Valrona, thanks to the
Flameholdan Guard
presence there and the University.
The Arizel Clan lives
there for the next few years in the barracks in the
Pearl Quarter and
keeps the peace in the Empress' name. Their existence largely keeps
serious intra- and inter-city warfare from breaking out. If a player
doesn't want to be in the Flameholdan Guard, other options include
being there as a student, perhaps alone, but this would be a fairly
temporary role unless you mysteriously find a new reason to stay around
Valrona.

Concepts for players in Weston:
This can be a little tricky,
particularly considering the minimal Flameholdan presence in Weston. A
Flameholdan simply wouldn't be living by himself in Weston unless he
were disgraced or kicked out of his clan (or ran away). A Flameholdan
might get separated from his clan through matters of love, or bizarre
conscience preventing him from listening to the clan leader (or else he
committed a crime that the clan didn't want to put up with). He might
also be a failed challenger to a clan leader (actual clan leaders, or a
former one, are highly restricted roles -- in other words, please don't
ask). It's possible he is in the Flameholdan army as well (if so, he
will be one of the Steeldogs), of course. A non-clanned Flameholdan
will not be tolerated in the Army, nor will he be welcome among any
clanned Flameholdans. He will probably end up as a craftsman or
town guard, possibly as a farmer.

Alas, full Flameholdan PCs are not permitted ingame at this time.
Their RPP cost, when they do open to the game, depends greatly on their
position in their clan and their relative Bloodgift.

Names are fairly easy; as you might notice, they have a distinct
classical, Greco-Roman feel. This is intentional on the part of the
Flameholdans. But for some ideas, read on.

Name help:
Names, for Men: Andros, Arion, Bron, Janus, Philomenus, Simon, Theodoros
Names, for Women: Andromeda, Hera, Lykitis, Pactra, Theodora
Surnames: Almost always a clan name. If clanless, the Flameholdan will pick
an overdramatic epithet like "the Strong" or "the Quiet" (but not something
that'd make him or her sound like a poseur, like "the Lone Wolf" or "the
Incredibly Awesome Warrior Who Slaughters Everybody").
Name structure: Lykitis yar'Solius (female), Janus yas'Ironhands (male).
When speaking Eshtenel, it's all right
to say it "Lykitis of Clan Solius" instead, but among themselves, there is
a far more correct way to say it.

Patrick shook his head as he surveyed the flames dancing in the dockside
tavern before him. "Nothing could survive that--" A scream inside interrupted him.
Sania seized his arm as he poured water over himself, soaking his leathers to the
skin. "You can't go in there!" she cried. "It's a deathtrap!" He glanced back at
her, face set and grim. There was no time to explain how he knew there was a chance,
no time to explain the Artifact he wore around his throat. All he had time to say
was, "I love you. And I'll get them out."

The dominant human race in the Kiassan Empire, Sciallans may be
thought of as the "default" race. A Sciallan can be of nearly any
height and build, and of nearly any natural hair, eye, and skin color
(although black and extremely pale skins are not known; also, there is
nothing approximating Oriental features, though some people may have
slightly slanted eyes or more-golden-than-average skin). Basically, if
you imagine what the human race on Earth might look like in a thousand
years of people of all races intermarrying, you might understand more
what a Sciallan is generally going to look like.

Sciallans, naturally, would be all over the place. They have all the
reasons in the world to be in any occupation in the game: from street
sweepers to members of the Ministry of Commerce, from Nobles to urchins,
Valrona in particular can host just about
any concept imaginable.

Most Sciallans marry, and most have children. Age of marriage in
the country is about 20, and in the city, about 25 for both men and
women. Dowries and other financial arrangements are not set in stone,
but vary from family to family; very poor families might not mess
with them much aside from helping the new couple get started with
gifts of livestock or linens, while very wealthy families might take
years finalizing family alliances. Children are raised by their
parents, or, barring that, by family members. Orphanages are very
common especially in the Eastern Cities,
helping raise children who, somehow, have fallen through the
cracks.

Sciallan women wear their hair up, especially after adolescence;
Noble women have elaborate hairdos with hairpins and hairsticks,
while more common women might have at least ribbons or thongs to
hold their hair out of their faces. Men generally wear military
style short haircuts, especially Nobles.
The nouveau riche
especially do not dare step too far out of tradition. Musicians
and other artistic sorts, of course, can flaunt tradition, and
while a cropped-hair woman might be stared at and a long-haired
man taunted by drunkards, it's not the scandal it was before
the war.

Society is divided cleanly between those with power and those without it.
Those with power, in other words those living in Priascialla, do feel a
certain superiority over those who live outside the Perimeter. Those who
live in the Eastern Cities, even Without, also feel superiority over
those who live far away. The divide can be sharp between these "city cousins"
and "country cousins." Even among Nobles, this divide can lead to a lot
of social problems.

Sciallans are very proud of their educational and healthcare systems.
Education is compulsory to the age of 18, and all citizens get preventive
healthcare provided for free. Orphanages and workhouses provide for those
unfortunates who do not have family to care for them. In theory, nobody
should be going hungry or without basic needs met. That said, far from the
Eastern Cities, not everybody gets the full
benefits of living in civlization, and even in the Eastern Cities, those
bastions of civilized life, some people do fall through the cracks.

One thing about Scialla that maybe people aren't so proud of: its
insularity. Sciallans tend to believe their way of life, divided and
paradoxical as it is, is the best way, and because they don't see a lot
of outsiders outside Priascialla, they can be a little biased against
foreigners. Because of their tight-knit family systems, and because the
smaller villages especially try to take care of their own, there is
not much tolerance for those who live outside the fringes or who choose
to make their way upon the backs of those who actually did the work.

Most Sciallans from the Eastern Cities are
well aware of the basics of each of the other races, and will know the
basics of their religious systems and government. See
here for some common-knowledge info.
In short, though they can be insular, people on the coastline at least
know basic stuff. In OOC terms, this page can be your guide; you can know
as much or as little as you think your PC would know, but just understand
that if you're a middle-class seamstress from
Val Taqar, it's going
to look extremely weird if you don't know about Lirwhinite name usage
conventions, whereas a soldier from Weston might
not know anything about it. Think of it in terms of what a middle-class
American would know about Canada versus what an Albanian might know. Actually,
think of it in terms of what a middle-class Canadian would know about Albania
versus what an American would know.

Artifacts Among the Sciallans:
One thing outsiders really don't get most of the time about Sciallans
is that they really do live in a rich, lush archaeological environment.
Finds are constantly being discovered and researched, and sometimes
these finds have unusual properties. Sometimes they'll protect the
wearer against fire, or else cure illness, or confer mystic-seeming
powers to the wearer. A common property is the creation of forcefields.
These finds are called Artifacts.
It's very rare for a commoner to get one of them, and when they do get
them, they tend to keep it very quiet in case some Noble decides to take
it (since all of them are claimed by some Noble house or other, this is
a completely valid fear).

Artifacts don't usually advertise themselves; they are commonly
worn as pendant necklaces, but there are Artifacts hidden in rings
and brooches as well, and even embedded into the pommels of swords.
They usually look like featureless domed cabochons, but can take
almost any form. They are also usually very small, palm-sized or less.
The bulk of them have come from digs around the edges of the
Wilds.

Roleplaying Help:
Since this is the dominant race, and since Sciallans tend to be
pretty Earth-normal, the sky's the limit. The government tends to
be protective and the physical environment fairly mild, so Sciallans
can be very dependent sometimes. Drama is common, fainting-flower
women can get away with their antics as someone'll always come along
to White Knight for them, and politics and plotting are common.

Sciallans tend to be fairly religious, following
the Prophet Haran and his teachings. It is
considered a great honor to have a relative in the church, and most
tithe 10% of their gross earnings and go to church at least once
or twice a week. They are, in general, superstitious as well,
believing in portents and signs. Despite their religious and
spiritual beliefs, Sciallans can be just as untrustworthy and
unreliable as RL people can be, and even despite being so, will
still insist that they're still "good people at heart."

The one thing someone can say about Sciallans, though, is that
they tend to be very protective and loyal of any Noble employing
them. Such jobs are perceived as cushy and hard to get, so serving
a Noble, especially one of the Twelve
Families, is the cachet of grace and fortune. Once bought by
one of these scions, a Sciallan tends to stay bought; it is rare
for one to behave treacherously toward a Noble employer.

Taryn Selenissa laughed, a smooth, soft, velvety sound, as she surveyed
the man who now stood to receive her. The clear wall behind his elaborately-carved
chair revealed the sea beyond the Dome and the many denizens of the deep who
swam past, sometimes pausing to look inside. The wispy pale green gown she wore flowed
behind her like a memory, and its long sleeves fell back from a perfectly-
manicured hand as she extended it to him. "So you are to thank for this outrage,"
he said in his polished, sophisticated accent. Her smile only widened. Her
indigo-blue eyes sparkled with delight. "Hardly an outrage. Come, enjoy some
Evenisian brandy. You might as well enjoy your time in my home. It will be
a while before you leave."

Perceived as cold and intellectual, these undersea dwellers cannot
be categorized 100%. They enjoy full benefits of technology, their
lifestyles appearing almost magical to
Sciallans and others. They alone
of all the systems' denizens have managed to develop and grow in
knowledge. They generally hold their knowledge close and sell it
dearly. And to the sea-people, everything in life is a metaphor.

Peculiarly concerned with group harmony, they are, as a rule, tall
and slender, and generally pale with any natural hair color (dark
predominates, but as a rule the fashion among them is not to use hair-
dye, though they certainly have the technology). Their eyes tend
toward being dark brown or dark blue and are generally very large
for their faces, with an almond shape that isn't slanted, but isn't
quite "normal" to Sciallan eyes. The men are narrow-shouldered, usually,
and generally not given to great amounts of muscle. The women do not
tend to be overly curvaceous.

Not as concerned with physical strength as other cultures,
they prefer to hone their minds. They regard
gluttony and sloth as the greatest sins of character, but don't get
overexcited about the other ones. They cultivate grace and deliberation
in thought and action, so can be seen as slow-moving when the truth
is that they're just fiendishly accurate.

The greatest good is to contribute to the whole; knowledge is the
surest way to earn accolades. Thus, many Lirwhinites encountered
outside Priascialla on the planet Scialla are there to conduct
research. There are very, very few Lirwhinites indeed who would choose
to settle down in the frontier -- most of them are horrified as it is
with the standard of living there. The past is a nice place to visit,
but you wouldn't want to live there! Even Valrona
is hopelessly primitive by their standards.

Lirwhin is nominally ruled by First
Counsel Rus Niak, an enigmatic and fey man who, most
people are sure, knows a lot more than he lets on. Rus Niak's nephew
and heir, Sharyandro Emis, is one
of the scholars interested in the study of the Perimeter, but outside
of the Eastern Cities, most have never heard of him.
He is sometimes seen in Valrona but spends most of his time on
Lirwhin's one major continent, Dryland, where he is a
minister of trade and tourism (it'd be an insult to his intelligence were it not
for his preference for
easy jobs right now). Rus Niak himself sometimes appears in Valrona to
visit his cousin, Empress Kira Stardancer, at her Summer Palace.
Neither Noble is married or heading anywhere near that way yet.

On their own planet, Lirwhinites live along the many ocean shelves
in partially submerged Domes.
Domes are usually transparent, though some of the older ones have
slats of metals along with those of polymer that allow the sun
to shine through to the city's ground. Many portraits have been
painted of these great Domes, shining among the waves like soap
bubbles. Each Dome has its own city government and a population
ranging from 1000 to 40,000. Rus Niak's home, Cor'Aeirin,
is the largest of these. When the rest of the Kiassan
Empire fell to barbarism and spent centuries just trying to get
communications back, Lirwhin turned inward and worked on perfecting
their Dome technology. Their systems of locks, dikes, and hydroponics
are unmatched. Their scientific work sometimes seems like magic--and
it's very specialized.

Besides the Domes, floating colonies of dispossessed,
rebellious Lirwhinites ride the uncertain waves of their vast planetary
sea, Mentethis. Unfortunately, the waves are called "uncertain" for a
reason: monster tidal waves roll across the surface often enough that
it's not uncommon for a colony to be wiped out. Fishermen comprise most
of these colonies' residents, but most are pirates who fish when they
can't find anybody to rob.

Not only Lirwhinites live in those azure waters. Vast, enormous
whales also live there; their intelligence is indisputed, and they more
or less rule the waters. They're far too large for even the most daring
fisher colonies to try to take, and though they are largely pacifist,
when one is actually slain by Lirwhinites, the rest of the colony seems
to vanish shortly thereafter. There are also a variety of seaweeds,
fish, and eels that are exceptionally good eating, so that for the most
part, a human could entirely live off of what is gleaned from the sea.
Predators include sharklike creatures capable of giving off electric
shock, and a variety of other monsters that would make anybody tremble.

Traditional Dress:
As for dress, Lirwhinites tend to favor crisp, military-looking
clothing: stark whites, blacks, and midnight blues, silvers and greys.
They favor silver over gold, prefer standing collars and button-down
fronts on their shirts, and wear longcoats over cloaks. At the other
extreme, in informal or dressy situations women particularly are fond
of semi-sheer, flowing, gauzy silks with flared sleeves, lettuce-edged
hems, and dreamy pale colors like palest green and sky blue. Flameholdan
men tend to wear their hair short, but women tend to wear their dark
tresses very long and piled up in vastly elaborate hairdos set with
strings of pearls and gems, sometimes pinning brooches to the mass of
hair for optimum effect.

Public Displays:
Lirwhinites usually cultivate an air of detached, languid
casualness, marked by drawled speech, heavy-lidded eyes, and
a general insousiance. It's rare to see one angry or upset
in public; "stoic" very much describes a Lirwhinite under
stress. It's a mark of breeding to be witty and languid
even in the face of overwhelming stress. (See movies such as
"The Scarlet Pimpernel" for a perfect portrayal of a Lirwhinite
style hero, though you can happily skip the "Sink me!" silliness.)

Lirwhinites don't like Flameholdans
much, but consider displays of bad temper or emotion extremely boorish,
and so are extremely polite to them
instead. It is said that the more unctuously polite a Lirwhinite is,
the more he hates you. They have less reason to hate
Bilashans than the
other races, and so tolerate them on
Dryland for menial labor. A
Lirwhinite simply would never lose his temper or argue in public. No,
far better is the crafty putdown that leaves the listener unsure as
to whether or not he just got insulted.

Language: Sutalan (SOOOT-ah-lan)
Sutalan is a complex, subtle language known for its intricate,
sleek-sounding sussurrations. It has common, polite, and worshipful
forms, and is famous for having seven different ways
of saying "thank you," all indicating varying levels of hatred.
The forms can almost sound like different languages, so it's
very difficult for an outsider to learn--and it's possible
that Lirwhinites like that!

In Sutalan, there are few if any hard consonants. Syllables
slur together, and "s" figures prominently as a letter in words.
"G" is pronounced "juh" most of the time instead of "guh", and vowels
tend to be long instead of short, with for example "i" being usually the
sound found in "lie" as opposed to that found in "in." There are a
roughly equivalent number of tenses and declensions as in Eshtenel,
though nouns do have feminine and masculine forms as well as a neuter
form used only in the more archaic-sounding very formal venerational form.

Family Ties:
It's worth noting that Lirwhinites have an extremely complicated way
of reckoning family ties. Their
custom of fostering ensures that family lines get as muddled as
possible, rendering precision all but impossible. Part of being a
family is figuring out who is related to who on what terms and what
that entails in terms of responsibilities. Family-law lawyers make
a mint on Lirwhin, consequently, thanks to the equally ancient custom
of contracts families rely upon to make sure everybody knows what
is supposed to happen when.

The main Lirwhinite language,
Sutalan, has words not only for
cousins, nephews, and the usual things English does, but also for
a cousin on your mother's side who is related by marriage. In
Eshtenel they usually rely
upon the more imprecise terms "cousin" to convey any relative
who is descended from (or fostered by) a sibling of one of
the speaker's parents. It's hopeless, but it will have to do.
Therefore, when Rus Niak calls
Kira Stardancer his "cousin,"
the term is hazy enough to be utterly meaningless except for
the intention conveyed that Rus Niak feels a certain amount of
dedication and loyalty toward her. He means the same basic thing
by it that a speaker of Eshtenel would mean, but it's just not
as precise a term.

Technology Notes:
It's almost impossible to note all the different advances that
Lirwhinites have brought to the Empire. Lirwhin is, of all the planets,
the most all-embracing of all the gifts that power and technology have
brought, and their scientists are the Empire's best and brightest. But
here is a partial list of the kinds of things Lirwhinites would take
for granted and probably miss bitterly while offplanet:

* Domes: Domes are the mainstay of
life on Lirwhin, and not only that, they provide all their citizens all
they need in terms of light, moisture, and even food. Dome technology
begins with the dredging-out of a site for a city.
Cleargel is applied in layers with
specially-heated applicator ships, providing walls that are built up
on a base of pylons, and finally the Dome is closed (or almost closed).
The Dome provides an enclosed ecosystem for its residents, one which
Lirwhinites typically view with relief and a sense of safety. Leaving the
Domes means leaving all that is civilized. Even the gate system on Domes
is both secure and reliable, preventing all entrance and egress to those
who have no business doing either.
* Cleargel: An all-purpose
building material that hardens to a nearly-transparent gloss and is
as strong as steel. Though not particularly flexible, it is immensely
strong and withstands both deep ocean pressure and possible bombardment
by enemies. It must be applied with heat and high pressure, so outside
of Lirwhin, it is almost never seen.
* PDPs: Personal Data Pads are the
close boon companions of almost all Lirwhinites. No Lirwhinite ever
would go anywhere without theirs. Different brands have different
appearances and abilities, with communications, data storage and
retrieval, and even casual gaming primary among their priorities.
They are considered an addition to
computers, not a rival to them, and even the simplest can "dock" to
a computer to share and synchronize information or transmit it elsewhere.
Though outside of the Perimeter the PDPs don't work, it's inconceivable
that a Lirwhinite would go somewhere and not take it, even for the
psychological comfort of having it even if it's useless.

Roleplaying Help:
Lirwhinites tend to be quietly assured of their own superiority,
especially over other races. Self-confident and clever, they like
to be three steps ahead of the rest of the class. Nothing makes them
happier than a good secret plot coming together. They admire and
respect a schemer who succeeds, especially if it's at the expense of
a lot of other people who didn't catch on and prevent the plot's
success. They see nothing wrong with a good assassination or
betrayal, even if it happens to them--after all, if such an action
succeeds, it means they themselves didn't catch it, so bad on them!

They aren't very religious or superstitious--in fact, they're
rather skeptical of anything that sounds too good to be true.
They don't tend to put a lot of trust in anything, and trusting
a Lirwhinite may well be the last mistake anybody could make.
Trust them only so far as you own them, and don't ever, ever let
your guard down: when it becomes more advantageous to betray you
than to support you, it's only a matter of time before they do.
That said, as long as it suits their needs to be on your side, a
Lirwhinite ally is a good one to have--they're the master schemers
of the Empire, and nobody can beat their organizational and
political prowess.

In terms of favored weapons, Lirwhinites prefer graceful-looking
weapons that rely more upon finesse than upon brute strength. The
rapier is the perfect embodiment of their living style, and being
skilled with it is as natural as being skilled in ballroom dancing.
Daggers and assassins' weapons are much favored especially by ladies,
with such toys as hairpin-blades and bodkins in near-constant fashion.
Twinswords, the slender
matching blades used by the most exquisitely-trained
Lirwhinites, are never sold to outsiders. If a non-Lirwhinite had a
set, some Lirwhinite would have a moral obligation to get them away
from the oaf.

Speaking of dancing, ballroom dances with elaborate memorized moves
are popular among the elite, but no Lirwhinite of rank would ever consider
setting foot onto the dance floor at a common tavern. Their style is
generally sinuous and studied, with grace and wit taking a top premium.
Lirwhinites have raised the practice of ballroom dance to a supreme art,
and many books are written about how the dance floor mimics politics,
religion, love, and just about any other subject imaginable. New
dances get made up every year, and not knowing the new style is as
boorish as wearing last year's slippers. People who don't understand
why dancing is important are viewed as worse than illiterate.

Concepts for players: Outside of the
Eastern Cities,
Lirwhinites are rare. Traveling scholars, plus the occasional throwback
who just digs living in absolute primitivity, perhaps. Lirwhinites
don't usually like living alone, and would not be good choices for the
hackneyed "hermit living in the woods" who always seems to teach people
alchemy. Also, their vast stores of knowledge frequently border on the
technological as opposed to the natural, making them nearly useless to
anybody outside the Perimeter. In Valrona, though, they are in much
demand as scholars and educators. Students often go there to finish
their educations, similar to how OOC students often go to France for a
semester. It's a mark of travel and breeding to at least visit the
Eastern Cities, and if one has to be in primitive digs, Valrona's the
most tolerable of them. Lirwhinites are not uncommon at all in Valrona.

There are half-Lirwhinites on Scialla -- Sciallan girls just adore
Lirwhinites -- but they nearly always identify themselves as Sciallan.
They don't get particular benefits from their halfbreed blood, since of
all the races, they are most like the Sciallans.

Name help:
Men: Sharyandro Emis, Rus Niak, Bynum Partraven,
Irriven Shahar, Sussureel Javra, Orthir Aximen, Vir Carodar.
Women: Nerismen Thulevale, Ivirri Tavilen, Shri Pandar, Emeroth
Lusirlo.
Surname notes: Last name is usually the name of the family who
raised the Lirwhinite in question. First and last names are always
used together, without exception.

Magda twisted around in her seat to take in the whole view of the
pristine-looking white city below. From up here, it all looked so clean,
so new. The sky was a pale blue, utterly alien-looking to her dark eyes.
She pushed the sleeping man beside her with a quick, rough motion. "Sasha, look!
Look! The spires!" He groaned and woke up, peering at her owlishly, not
answering, but she forced him to lean over her to look out the window. They
both felt the engines kick in with, presumably, the landing sequence, and
it made their hearts thump even though they'd never flown or landed anywhere
before. At the top of the main hill of the city, they saw and flew past a
vast palace of white stone. "That must be where the Empress lives!" Magda
chattered like a bird, giddy. "Let her stay there then, as long as we can
get by," said Sasha with a wry grin, but he couldn't possibly share with
his sister how worried he felt. When he couldn't even pray to God to help,
who could he appeal to for aid beyond his scope?

Bilashans live furthest from the sun. They tend to be short,
olive-skinned, with curly dark hair. They
are usually wiry rather than musclebound, but the men take pride in broad
shoulders and strong arms. The women are quite curvaceous and
tend their typically long hair with pride. Both genders tend to be
strong for their size as well as hardy, with few "fainting flowers"
among either gender.

Most noticeable about them
are their eyes which are slanted and are a pale, piercing
silvery-blue among purebloods. Among halfbreeds, varying shades
of grey-blue are seen, but never anything as intense as indigo
or sapphire. Their eyes are viewed as off-putting by other
races, but to Bilashans themselves, they are a mark of divine favor.

They are considered much like modern Earth
considers gypsies -- as thieves, liars, and worse. They worship a
strange god, Sernis, who is in direct
competition with Logos and whose worship
doesn't look much like
the Church of Haran. There are rumors,
absolutely unfounded and unconfirmed of course, that priests of
Sernis have indulged in the very cruelest of tortures and sacrifices
of their own laity!

Not much is known of Bilashans' psychological makeup, but people
would know how they always seem to know more than they're telling, and
how they act all superior to everybody else. In truth, they are
undergoing a serious series of internal changes, which their
sympathizers point to when persecution lifts its ugly head.

Bilashans almost always try to blend in with the population, hiding
as native Sciallans or halfbreed
Flameholdans. They generally are
marginal in occupation -- they rarely own their own shops, but
frequently work for shopkeepers or as street merchants. When
discovered, retribution can be harsh -- Bilashans can only hope to just
be evicted from town. Unfortunately, this often makes frontier
shopkeepers leery of anybody who "looks" Bilashan, unless they know the
person's family.

Bilashans have a ruler, Kingpriest Rashan,
but as long as he's on Bilashe, out of sight means out of mind. After the
Succession War of
2212AH, a number of them sought
refuge on Scialla despite Kira's stated and open dislike of them.
Though they are treated as second (even third!) class citizens, they
seem content to be away from Bilashe.

I want to caution players against thinking that Bilashans are some
sort of "thief class" -- as it would be a mistake to think of
Lirwhinites as magic-users, or
Flameholdans as warriors. Their culture
is far richer than that, and while they have a bad reputation, to
reduce them to a one-sided tagline like that would be to do them an
injustice. Not all of a planet's people act, look, or think the same.
Thieves and bad guys are found on all the planets. Bilashe has just
had some really rough times lately, and it's made her refugees
desperate sometimes.

Bilashans dress in an eclectic manner: scarves, fringe, bells,
colorful castoffs. For the same reason Earth gypsies dress the way they
do, Bilashans find their bizarre fashion a relief from their sometimes
difficult and tedious lives, and certainly they haven't the money or
storage space for much more than they've got. When they are stuck
on Scialla, they tend to try to wear veils or hats with brims to
try to hide their insanely distinctive eyes.

Their weapons are those of farmers and peasants: knives and clubs.
They are hardly high-class assassins, and most couldn't afford anything
fancy. A Bilashan with a sword on Scialla is one step away from becoming
the guest of honor in a news story ending with "and then the townsfolk
found his body." Their knives can be elaborate and detailed, and many
look like antiques. They also are masters of the ranged weapon, particularly
the slingshot and javelin, but do not often carry bows or crossbows (for
the same reason as noted above).

I definitely don't need to say that Bilashan PCs are not allowed
ingame at this time. Nor are halfbreeds. Even being suspected of
being Bilashan can get someone into trouble outside the
Perimeter.

Roleplaying Help:
The whole universe steps on your people. Everybody hates you and
thinks you're a thief and a loser. Your own god wouldn't mind killing
you if it serves his interest. Your planet started, and then majorly
lost, a war a short while ago, and nobody's forgotten that factoid yet.

But there are bright spots to this otherwise dreary tapestry.
Though the empress hates your people, she's allowed them to settle
on Scialla as refugees, and as long as you keep quiet about your
origins, you can slowly start a new life for yourself and your
beloved family.

That's what it's all about, really: family. Love. Friendship.
Survival. Where you are, and precisely how you get those things and
keep them safe, are really secondary. If people just leave you alone,
you can rebuild your life away from an uncaring and malevolent god
and a planet full of grief and pain. If only they'd just leave you
alone.

Life's about those few heartbeats when things are tolerable. Once
away from Bilashe, there's passion to be had, and sanity. Bilashans
lose themselves in dance, and hints abound about the erotic dance of
the curvey Bilashan women. The wild bonfire dances of the gypsies
draws onlookers from miles around when caravans pull into town. Art,
too, particularly beadwork and embroidery, keeps people's otherwise
drab existences bright and cheerful, though Bilashans do not like art
for art's sake. Art exists to adorn useful things. Useful things
ought to be as pretty as possible. Even men wear spangled headscarves
and fringed sashes.

Are Bilashans really all thieves and worse? Maybe. But they've had
a really rough time. Their entire culture was about self-preservation
and survival; it's caused a certain amount of moral flexibility. While
the accusations have a grain of truth, those Bilashans who settle
on Scialla have done so for a very specific reason: they feel they
can get a better life here, even despite the racism they experience,
than they ever could back on Bilashe. That kind of optimism and hope
can be inspirational.

Name help:
Men: Alexandru, Aurel, Cyprus, Kostel, Dragos, Dmitri, Laurent,
Mikel, Soren, Stefan, Tomas.
Women: Adela, Alina, Brandusa, Krina, Dasia, Ilena, Lynuta,
Magda, Marta, Ruxana, Stefania, Tatya, Valeria.
Surnames: Most Bilashans do not use surnames, using instead
"daughter of" or "son of" with either a father's or mother's name
depending on which parent is better-known. They also may use
"from" with a location, or their occupation, as in "Adela the Butcher."
Surnames are not passed down, however.